"Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs" goes above and beyond

Beyonf the Square Crochet Motifs by Edie Eckman

Rating:

Star5

Star

Star

Star

Star

The cover catches your eye; bright colors, beautiful shapes, the book beckons you, asking you to take it off the shelf. Nice hardback – a bonus for any crochet book you plan to use on a regular basis. Spiral bound inside, a second bonus. And then you start flipping through the pages.

Beyond the Square is going to bring new life to the old afghan – these will not be your great grandmother’s afghans. The beginning things are standard for every crochet book; a bonus to this book are the sections on Color Considerations, Fastening off with multiple colors, and something rarely talked about in making ‘squares” and other shapes – how to avoid the “blip” – that bump of color that sticks out when you change over.

The book discusses different ways to connect the blocks, and well as the importance of keeping your blocks flat as you work them – and how to do it. Problem solving ruffled blocks and cupped pieces is a section to itself.

Circles, squares, hexagons, triangles are the main sections; some of the patterns look like lovely flowers and could be used independently as such. Others look like snowflakes. A section entitled “Unusual Shapes” brings out the real challenge in creating shapes. However, the book also gives ideas and suggestions for connecting these shapes to make a bigger piece.

144 different motifs fill this book, giving any reader weeks worth of new patterns to try out.

This book gets a five out of five from me, and will join my other favorite books on the shelf. No more simple granny squares for me!

Share this article

Comments

Taught as a young girl to knit and crochet, I did not really come into a love of them until my children were small. Now I crochet toys and sell them, create my own patterns, and participate in several communities within Ravelry.com. I have great number of other crafting skills as well - sewing, weaving, spinning, embroidery, painting, beadwork - and I try to get some in every day.